Deck 26: Sensing the Environment

Question 1

To best help it "sniff out" a fox, a hunting dog probably has a high concentration of

A) chemoreceptors in its nasal cavity.
B) mechanoreceptors in its ears.
C) proprioreceptors in its nasal cavity.
D) thermoreceptors in its front paws.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In the middle ear, the three tiniest bones in the body receive the vibrations from the eardrum and transmit them to a second membrane, which channels them to the

A) eustachian tube.
B) middle ear.
C) cochlea.
D) pinna.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A drug that inhibits the function of mechanoreceptors would affect your sense of

A) touch.
B) light.
C) individuality.
D) smell.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The human ear is capable of detecting changes in pressure. The tiny hairs that detect this information are located in the

A) cochlea.
B) ear canal.
C) eardrum.
D) outer ear.

Question 5

Researchers have suggested a fifth taste in humans known as umami and attribute the taste to the compound glutamate. Which of the following would support the belief that umami is a real "taste?"

A) Identifying a chemoreceptor in the nasal cavity that glutamate can bind to.
B) The isolation of a sensory neuron that creates nerve impulses in response to pressure from glutamate.
C) Finding chemoreceptors in a taste bud that create nerve impulses in response to an interaction with glutamate.
D) Identification of glands in the oral cavity that release saliva in response to the presence of glutamate.

Question 6

The figure below illustrates the organ of Corti, a part of the Cochlea in the human inner ear.
What labeled region of this figure of the organ of Corti is directly stimulated to vibrate in response to the air movements causes by sound?

A) Region A
B) Region B
C) Region C
D) Region D

Question 7

In a single lens eye, the lens

A) sends nerve impulses to the retina.
B) focuses light on the retina.
C) controls the amount of light entering the eye.
D) screens out damaging ultraviolet light.

Question 8

Our overall perception of food depends on

A) chemoreceptors.
B) photoreceptors.
C) mechanoreceptors.
D) all of the above

Question 9

The function of the pinna is to

A) convert sound to nerve impulses.
B) provide a sense of balance.
C) collect sound energy.
D) equalize pressure between the inner and middle ear.

Question 10

The pressure between our outer and middle ears is equalized by

A) the eardrum.
B) the vestibular apparatus.
C) the eustachian tubes.
D) the cochlea.

Question 11

The sensory structures of animals all convert some property of the environment into

A) pigments.
B) chemicals.
C) nerve impulses.
D) neurotransmitters.

Question 12

A drug that decreases your ability to taste and smell might inhibit the function of

A) photoreceptors.
B) thermoreceptors.
C) mechanoreceptors.
D) chemoreceptors.

Question 13

Our sense of balance would not be possible without

A) a middle ear.
B) eustachian tubes.
C) a basilar membrane.
D) otoliths.

Question 14

In our ears, sound is converted into nerve impulses by the

A) eustachian tubes.
B) auditory canal.
C) eardrum.
D) organ of Corti.

Question 15

The eye is not like a camera in which of the following ways?

A) Both the eye and the camera can adjust their focus to account for how far away an object is located.
B) Both the eye and the camera have lenses that bend light waves.
C) Both the eye and the camera have mechanisms to control the amount of light that enters.
D) Both the eye and the camera focus by changing the distance between the lens and the surface that reacts to light.

Question 16

The thin membrane called the _______ receives sound waves that have moved into the ear and converts pressure changes into physical movement.

A) cochlea
B) eardrum
C) hair cell
D) pheromone

Question 17

Which of the following correctly explains what determines a given organism's sensitivity to a specific sensory input?

A) how many cells an organism contains that are sensitive to that feature of the environment
B) how often the organism encounters that form of sensory input
C) how quickly the organism can decide whether to translate DNA for the sensory input
D) the number of mutations that have occurred in the sensory organs since the most recent common ancestor

Question 18

The human skin has numerous sensory receptors that take in information about our environment, and these receptors are concentrated in areas where detailed information on touch is needed. Which of the following body areas is likely to have the smallest number of sensory receptors?

A) fingertips
B) face
C) buttocks
D) feet

Question 19

The function of otoliths in balance depends on

A) the pull of gravity.
B) vibrations created by changes in air pressure.
C) the interaction of a membrane with hair-like projections from sensory cells.
D) the activation of thermoreceptors by pressure.

Question 20

Which of the following is not a sensory receptor?

A) proprioceptor
B) nociceptor
C) painireceptor
D) thermoreceptor

Question 21

In our eyes, cones are found in the

A) fovea.
B) pupil.
C) lens.
D) blind spot.

Question 22

In the eyes of animals that are primarily active at night, such as raccoons, the retina would

A) contain mostly rods.
B) not have pupils.
C) focus images.
D) lack a fovea.

Question 23

Which of the following would not be found in the retina of a horse?

A) rods
B) lenses
C) proprioceptors
D) pigments

Question 24

In our eyes, the rods

A) pass nerve impulses to cones.
B) encounter light before cones.
C) connect to neurons that pass nerve impulses to cones.
D) connect to neurons that pass nerve impulses to the brain.

Question 25

Not all animals that can hear can distinguish sound frequencies because many lack the equivalent of

A) mechanoreceptors.
B) an organ of Corti.
C) a vestibular apparatus.
D) a middle ear.

Question 26

Depth perception depends in large part on

A) the presence of rods and cones.
B) the fovea.
C) having two eyes.
D) having adjustable lenses.

Question 27

Which of the following would most likely have compound eyes?

A) a spider
B) a housefly
C) an elephant
D) an squid

Question 28

The evolution of the complex eyes we find in vertebrates could have begun with

A) a single lens photoreceptor with a primitive pupil.
B) rods and cones in a simple retina.
C) a primitive light-sensitive pigment associated with a sensory cell.
D) compound eyes evolving into single lens eyes.

Question 29

We have color vision thanks to

A) pupils.
B) lenses.
C) rods.
D) cones.

Question 30

Which of the following would not be found in the organ of Corti?

A) mechanoreceptor cells
B) sensory neurons
C) a cochlea
D) hairlike projections on cells.

Question 31

The compound eyes of a honeybee

A) cannot see patterns of color.
B) have no lenses.
C) can see patterns of color.
D) are similar to the eyes of octopi.

Question 32

The figure below depicts a human eye.
When focusing on an object that is far away, the structure indicated by the arrow in the figure above

A) becomes flatter.
B) becomes more spherical.
C) does not change.
D) decreases in diameter.

Question 33

All sensory organs convert environmental stimuli into nervous impulses that travel along the plasma membrane in electrical "waves" known as ______________.

Question 34

As you read this question, your eyes are moving to project the image of each word on your

A) pupil.
B) lens.
C) rods.
D) fovea.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about insect eyes is true?

A) All insects have three kinds of eyes.
B) Insect eyes do not use light-sensitive cells to detect light.
C) Insect eyes can have numerous individual units.
D) Insect eyes do not have lenses.

Question 36

Vertebrate eyes have a pupil that

A) changes shape to focus light on the retina.
B) contains rods for color vision.
C) contains cones for dark vision.
D) controls the amount of light entering the eye.

Question 37

In addition to the receptors in the mouth, chemical receptors in the _______ passages provide sensory information that contributes to a human's sense of taste.

Question 38

In the human eye, the layer of light-sensitive cells used to capture images is called the

A) ganglion.
B) lens.
C) retina.
D) cochlea.

Question 39

A person who, as a result of a mutation, could not produce one of the pigment molecules found in cones

A) would have difficulty seeing some or all colors.
B) could not see black and white.
C) could see only at night and under low light conditions.
D) would not able to detect light of any color.

Question 40

In a human eye, which would be the most numerous?

A) lenses
B) cones
C) pupils
D) rods

Question 41

Pain and temperature are detected by nerve endings.

Question 42

The cell indicated by the arrow in the figure below directly interacts with environmental stimuli.

Question 43

We can distinguish volume because __________ sounds produce greater movement of the basilar membrane.

Question 44

The sensory receptors that respond to extreme heat and cold and to injuries are ___________ receptors.

Question 45

In the case of both smell and taste, chemicals must dissolve in water before they can be detected by sensory receptors.

Question 46

The more concentrated an odor is, the more frequently it stimulates nerve impulses.

Question 47

The position of our body is reported by mechanoreceptors called ______________.

Question 48

Different types of chemoreceptors respond to different smells.

Question 49

The lens of your eye projects images ____________ on your retina, but brain processing returns images to the correct orientation.

Question 50

The senses of smell and taste both depend on receptors that create nerve impulses in response to the presence of certain ________

Question 51

The basilar membrane transmits action potentials to the middle ear, where they are converted to nerve impulses.

Question 52

_______ are small clusters of sensory cells on the surface of the tongue that interact with the chemicals that pass through a human's mouth.

Question 53

A ________ eye consists of many individual light-receiving units, each with its own lens and small cluster of photoreceptors.

Question 54

The center of the human retina has a region called the _____ where cones are most densely packed.

Question 55

We can distinguish pitch because different regions of the basilar membrane vibrate in response to different sound __________.

Question 56

The vestibular apparatus also contains three fluid-filled ____________ canals oriented at right angles to one another.

Question 57

The light-sensitive cells in our eyes are the rods and the _____.

Question 58

The eardrum converts physical movement into physical sound.

Question 59

The ________ of the lens of your eye changes when you focus on objects at different distances.

Question 60

We perceive pressure waves in air as _____.

Question 61

Why are sensory organs commonly located on the head of an organism?

Question 62

In our eyes, the pupil focuses light on the retina.

Question 63

In bright light, the openings in the pupils of our eyes become smaller.

Question 64

Rods and cones pass their signals directly to the brain.

Question 65

Compound eyes of insects use mechanoreceptors rather than photoreceptors.

Question 66

The sound intensity in the front rows of a rock concert is approximately 110 decibels. A pair of earplugs reduces sound intensity by about 30 decibels. A person wearing earplugs who is seated in the front rows of a rock concert for one hour has sufficiently protected his or her ears from hearing damage.